Heading into the third round of the Pacific 10 Conference Championships at Meadows Golf Club in Fairfax, Calif., yesterday, the Arizona men’s golf team was right where it wanted to be, in fifth place at 4-over-par, just seven strokes behind first place.
As the third round concluded yesterday afternoon, with scores jumping through the roof from all but two teams, the Wildcats now find themselves in eighth place at 30-over-par.
“”The wind was blowing really hard today,”” said UA assistant coach John Knauer. “”They set up a tough pin placement but didn’t take the weather into account.””
The Wildcats are in a difficult spot as they head into the final round of the tournament today, in need of at least a fifth place finish in order to qualify for the NCAA West Regionals in Seattle. In what is expected to be yet another windy afternoon with an even tougher pin placement, the team is going to need to come together if they want to contend.
“”We came here to do a job and get it done,”” Knauer said. “”The wind made it tough (yesterday) and it’s going to be even tougher (today). There’s no excuse for not making the necessary adjustments.””
No Wildcat shot under par yesterday as senior Creighton Honeck led the way again for the team after shooting a 1-over-par to drop into a tie for second place individually at 3-under-par, one stroke off the lead. Freshman Tarquin MacManus shot a 9-over-par to give him an 8-over-par to tie for 30th place individually.
Junior Nick Park (currently 9 over, 34th), freshman Roberto Galletti (currently 12 over, 48th), senior Mark Lamb (14 over, 50th) and junior Tyler Neal (15 over, 52nd) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats.
“”I think we hit it better than every other team,”” Knauer said. “”Our putting was atrocious, especially with the wind.””
No. 2 USC currently leads the tournament after a day in which the team shot 2-over-par, behind only No. 29 ASU, which carded a 1-over-par for the day and currently sits in second place.
No other team finished in single digits above par. Arizona shot a 26-over-par for the day, worst amongst the entire conference.
“”We kept telling them to take it one hole at a time and develop a plan for each hole, but we just couldn’t get it in,”” Knauer said.
As far as the championship goes, the Wildcats’ main focus will be on catching Stanford, which currently sits in fifth – right where the Wildcats need to be to go further in the season.
“”It was just a long, tough day,”” Knauer said. “”But we are going to need to go out there and get what we came for.””
